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Nicki Minaj Faces Off With the Hot 97 D.J.’s

By James C. McKinley Jr. June 5, 2012 3:14 pmJune 5, 2012 3:14 pm

Nicki Minaj, the Queens rapper, called into Hot 97 on Monday night to explain her decision to pull out of the radio station’s concert the previous day and became embroiled in a heated debate with DJ Funkmaster Flex.

Hip-hop thrives on disputes like this one, and this debate made for good radio theater. During a tense, hourlong talk with Funkmaster Flex, Ms. Minaj apologized to her fans and promised to do a free show in the New York area this summer to make up for canceling. But she also made it clear that she had been deeply offended when another Hot 97 (WHQT, (97.1 FM) D.J., Peter Rosenberg, had ridiculed her single “Starships,” suggesting that it was not “real hip-hop.”

Ms. Minaj said it was bad form for Mr. Rosenberg to criticize her just before a show when she was giving her time to benefit the radio station. She also suggested that Mr. Rosenberg had singled her out because she is a woman.

“When you want our team to come to your show, treat us with respect,” she said. “And that’s all we’re asking.” Later she added: “”When you disrespect Nicki Minaj, you’re disrespecting my fans. I don’t have a problem with anyone saying what they have to say to me. But don’t make fans feel inferior in any way for their personal taste in music.”

For his part, Funkmaster Flex, who also made disparaging comments about Ms. Minaj’s work during the concert at MetLife Stadium, declined to apologize for Mr. Rosenberg’s critique of her song. He came close though, admitting that “Rosenberg didn’t pick the right time and place to say that.” But he also faulted Lil Wayne for asking Ms. Minaj and the other artists on his label to boycott the show, thus depriving Ms. Minaj’s fans of a chance to see her.

Mr. Rosenberg, meanwhile, did not soften his stand during his appearances on the station on Monday night and Tuesday morning. “There is a get me to apologize movement, to which I can say, I’m absolutely not apologizing, because I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said on Monday evening. “I’m not going to change my stand because I’m at Summer Jam. I’ve been saying it for six months.”

Ebro Darden, the station’s program director, also appeared on one of the station’s morning shows on Tuesday to make it clear that he stood by Mr. Rosenberg. He said the station had supported Ms. Minaj for years, even when her records were not popular, because she’s from Queens. But, he said, Mr. Rosenberg had a right to disagree with her foray into pop music with “Starships.”

“That’s a hip-hop show,” he said of the Summer Jam. “When artists want to go out and make songs for other formats, that’s their prerogative, but that doesn’t mean our hosts have to like it. It was not a direct shot at her, at her personality, at her as a woman — there was no sexual reference, there was no disrespect.”